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Banks and Dallenbach ready for Pikes Peak with 1,400 hp

August 8, 2012

Photo by Banks Power

Not content to rest on his laurels after developing new diesel engines for military applications, Gale Banks and his company Banks Power will run a 1,400-hp, 1,301 lb-ft methanol-fueled vehicle up the now completely paved course at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, which is scheduled to take place Aug. 8-12.

Banks teamed up with Paul Dallenbach and Leonard Arnold of Dallenbach Racing for the occasion. Though they're self-described old-school hot-rodders competing against much bigger teams with much bigger budgets, they say their expectations are high. Banks and the boys think they'll get by with their rear-wheel-drive, OHV V8-powered car.

The team says it's looking for redemption on the mountain after a disappointing outing last year that ended when a half-shaft broke during a full-speed run.

This year, the Lola transaxle in their Wells-Coyote chassis is running larger-diameter 300M half-shafts.

They set up the car with more downforce to tackle the course, which is now 12.42 miles of paved road. The team also increased the boost on the twin-turbo 442 Chevy small-block V8 to deliver the aforementioned astounding numbers. Paul Dallenbach is scheduled to drive, and he will have almost 100 hp and nearly 100 lb-ft more torque at his disposal than he did last year.

The power is maintained at different altitudes using Banks' altitude-compensation technology, which was developed for military applications. To compensate for the thinner air available at higher altitudes, the turbo speed increases to feed the engine air with the same density as the air the engine was getting at the start of the race. A computer-controlled management system makes sure the turbos don't fail from running at high speed.

During testing, the updated car bested last year's test speed through the Picnic Grounds--a lower section of the track—by 26 mph

Dallenbach and Banks have also decided to run treaded Continental race tires, as opposed to stickier slicks. They act as a failsafe because they'll spin on the pavement before drivetrain parts start to break. They're also more resistant to punctures from errant rocks thrown on the course.

Banks says that testing has shown they have a chance to win this competition, but we're sure Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima will have something to say about that. We hear he's going all-electric this year.